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Winter 2010
A Journal of the Society of the Sacred Heart, U.S. Province
… to Heart
Dear Friends,
To have “the heart of an educator” is our call as RSCJ living in our struggling world. An educator draws forth what is within the other by seeing, and hoping in, the goodness at the heart of who that person is. An educator facilitates people’s growth, often beyond their wildest imaginings, because the educator believes in them and creates room for them to grow. The gifts and potential reside within the other, so the task of the educator is not to “do” anything. But the educator must first come to know the other – to observe, to listen to, to interact with, to care about – because otherwise, the other could say “You don’t know me. How can you believe in me?” Being deeply believed in by someone who knows us gives any of us the energy, courage, incentive, and will to grow and to learn and to put forth the effort that such growing and learning require. The heart of the educator discerns and draws out what is in the heart of the other with all of its potential, and the result is St. Madeleine Sophie’s vision of “the education of the whole person.” As you will read in this issue of Heart, ministering with “the heart of an educator” takes place in many different settings: in actual classrooms, in countries where needs are enormous, and in places where healing is called for. All who are part of the Society’s mission follow in the footsteps of St. Madeleine Sophie; she who knew and valued each person from the greatest to the least, modeled for us “the heart of an educator” and passes on to us and our colleagues a share in her charism. It is this gift that is contagious because those who have experienced it, in turn, go to the real source – the Heart of Jesus – to serve others as He did. As we contemplate the coming of Jesus, let us commit ourselves to regard the people in our lives as He did the people in his, as God does. Let us open ourselves to know people better and to believe in them, despite our fears and their imperfections. Let us as a Sacred Heart family bring more love, more growth, and greater reverence for persons and for all of life, into our beautiful, still struggling world. Devotedly, in the Heart of Jesus,
Paula Toner, RSCJ Provincial
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CONTENTS
WINTER 2010 • Vol. 8, No. 2
Heart Lines
04 0 06 0 08 0 09 0 10 0 10 Sacred Heart spirituality in a globalized world To Haiti with love In Mission for Life: A grace-filled journey
By Shirley Miller, RSCJ
Heart is published two times a year to highlight the mission and ministries of the Society of the Sacred Heart, U.S. Province, for a wide circle of friends. The covers, photographs of hearts in nature, symbolic of Christ’s presence at the heart of the universe, bear witness to the contemplative dimension of the Society’s “wholly contemplative, wholly apostolic” mission: To discover and reveal God’s love through the service of education.
In Memoriam RSCJ at Los Angeles Religious Education Congress AMO, AMAS, AMASC!
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Into the light: The story of a special stained glass window Other stained glass around the province Connecting with each other: A ministry of teamwork, healthcare, and education Coming full circle: Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Bryn Mawr
The Society of the Sacred Heart was founded by Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat in postrevolutionary France and brought to the United States by Saint Philippine Duchesne in 1818. For more information about the mission and ministries of the U.S. Province, please visit www.rscj.org. U.S. Provincial Team: Paula Toner, RSCJ, Provincial Anne Byrne, RSCJ Margaret (Meg) Causey, RSCJ Mary Charlotte Chandler, RSCJ Melanie Guste, RSCJ Mary Kay Hunyady, RSCJ Susan Maxwell, RSCJ Editor: Susan Switzer Designer: Peggy Nehmen Copy Editor: Frances Gimber, RSCJ Please send address changes for Heart to editor@rscj.org or to Heart editor at the address below. Article proposals, manuscripts and letters for publication are welcome. Society of the Sacred Heart, U.S. Province 4120 Forest Park Avenue St. Louis, MO 63108 314-652-1500 Fax: 314-534-6800
Departments
19 0 20 0 22 Essay: A fourth vow
By Mary Blish, RSCJ
Spirituality: God, golf, nature
By Virginia Dennehy, RSCJ
The Book Page
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Photo: Shutterstock.com
Features
Heart Lines
Sacred Heart spirituality in a globalized world
“H
ow nice to see you” and “I had no idea that…” were probably the two most often repeated phrases at Sacred Heart Spirituality in a Globalized World, held at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart from July 7 to11, 2010. What began over two years ago as two separate gatherings – an RSCJ/Associates Spirituality Forum and a Global Education Conference sponsored by the Network of Sacred Heart Schools – had merged into one synergistically-alive meeting of minds and hearts. Over 250 Network of Sacred Heart Schools members, Associates, alumnae and alumni, and RSCJ met in Bethesda to connect, to discover, to collaborate. In the words of Catherine Kinabrew and fellow Associates, Marianne Basila, Jane Steinfels and Frances Dickey: “…the energy for our shared mission was tangible; so many of us felt as if our hearts were broken wide open!” The planning committee was as diverse as the participant list and consisted of Virginia Dennehy, RSCJ; Maureen Glavin, RSCJ; Carol Haggarty, RSCJ; Kitty Mattesky, global education coordinator at The Rosary; Kathleen McGrath, RSCJ; Stephanie Moore, director of instructional technology at Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill; Patty Myler, director of facility at Stone Ridge; Vicki Noonan, business manager of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, and Madeleine Ortman, executive director of the Network. From an enactment of the RSCJ global journey to establish schools and foundations of service, presented by Sister Glavin, to comments from former superior general Clare Pratt, RSCJ, who has visited the RSCJ in most, if not all, of those locations,
the days were filled with experiential learning, relationship building, and conversations about practical ways to alleviate present suffering and bring about a more humane and sustainable future. Using a selection of quotations from the writings of Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ, Suzanne Cooke, RSCJ, reminded everyone of the prophetic nature of the charism of the Society of the Sacred Heart. And Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, put the journeys of St. Philippine in a contemporary perspective using the saint’s own words. After Cecile Meijer, RSCJ, eloquently awakened the audience to the imminent action required to preserve the planet and eradicate poverty, keynote speaker, Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, galvanized the group with his comments about current conditions in Haiti. Prayers and liturgies were harmoniously arranged by Lisa Buscher, RSCJ, and Sister McGrath. Associate Billy Philadelphia directed the musicians along with Sister Buscher; and Associate Marilyn Lorenz created a quiet space of reflection and movement before each day’s opening presentation. Following are just a few representative highlights from an agenda that comprised over thirty presentations, five periods of prayer, three formal liturgies, and innumerable opportunities to communicate:
Top: Spirituality conference logo Middle: An enactment of the Society of the Sacred Heart global journey produced by Maureen Glavin, RSCJ. Bottom: Associates gave a presentation on “The Life Lived.” Members of the Associates National Committee, from left; Marianne Basila, Anne Byrne, RSCJ, Catherine Kinabrew, and Frances Dickey.
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Global Education in Action: Educators of the Sacred Heart (ESCJ) Faculty and staff from Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton examined ways in which global education is at the heart of the entire school program and presented several “snapshots” of global education in action. Social Analysis and the Goals and Criteria Meg Causey, RSCJ, gave an overview of the social analysis process for service experiences and explained the importance of developing awareness of the underlying structures that create poverty. Sharing Students’ Work Around the World Lisa Carswell, art teacher at Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill, discussed development of an International Children’s Art Exchange to nurture understanding and promote peace. Social Justice: The World – The Church – The Society Ray O’Connor, Stuart Hall, Carol Haggarty, RSCJ, and Kate Lindquist, Carrollton, focused on the importance of community for both students and adults and guided conversations about service projects. Young Missionaries Answer the Challenge Kara Stacks, principal at THE SEED public charter school in Washington, D.C., spoke about the challenges of being the only public urban boarding school in the country. She was joined by Greenwich alumna Claire Lorentzen, who described in pictures her journey to Sacred Heart schools in Kenya; Judy Vollbrecht, RSCJ, who shared what she and other RSCJ have learned in Haiti; and Carrollton student Molly Nuell, who is part of a group working to create a school in Lacolline, Haiti. The Friday morning reading, from the Buddhist Metta Sutta, captures the spirit that was evident throughout the proceedings: This is the work of those who are skilled and peaceful, who seek the good: May all beings be happy. May they live in safety and joy. All beings, whether weak or strong, tall, stout, Average or short, seen or unseen, Near or distant, born or to be born, May they all be happy… As a mother watches over her child, Willing to risk her own life to protect her only child, So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings, Suffusing the whole world with unobstructed loving kindness. And in reflecting on those July days, Sister Dennehy said: “Let each of us continue to build on this spirit that will lead us into the future together.” N
1. Denise Murphy, Stone Ridge lower school teacher, Carol Wheeler, 91st Street, New York City, Yolaine Watkins, former Stone Ridge upper school French teacher. 2. Nancy Kehoe, RSCJ, (left) author of Wrestling with Our Inner Angels, and Carol Haggarty, RSCJ, assistant executive director of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools. 3. Judith Vollbrecht, RSCJ (right) describes projects in Haiti where young missionaries can be of service. 4. Theresa Padden and Francisco Teixeira, Schools of the Sacred Heart, San Francisco.
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Special thanks to Caitlin Myler of Stone Ridge for the conference photos.
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Heart Lines
To
A heart-opening series of events
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aiti with love
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n January 15, 2010, Natividad Hernández and Josefina Ramos wrote to Superior General Kathleen Conan: Josefa communicated with her sister Panchi, Thursday, January 14 at 9:00 p.m. Puerto Rican time. She is fine and is with the Daughters of Mary. They have food and drink but they sleep outside because the building is moving and they are afraid it will fall. Our house in Port-au-Prince is in very bad condition and unlivable. Josefa will go to live in Verrettes; she will go to find a place where she can be in contact with all of us. Let us give thanks to God that the other sisters were all away and that no one was in our house. With much love, Naty and Josefina
The mid-January earthquake that shook the RSCJ house in Haiti opened the hearts of people all over the world. Charitable organizations and NGOs of diverse denominations and nationalities sent aid in various forms. As a sponsor of the RSCJ Haiti mission, the U.S. Province received contributions for Haiti of over $110,000 – and uncountable prayers. What matters now is how the people of Haiti are faring and what is being done to restore their lives.
One of many devastated buildings in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the mid-January earthquake.
Five RSCJ who have spent time in Haiti have provided comments.
Scenes of devastation Diana Wall, RSCJ, who has a degree in nursing and had just made her final vows in Rome, decided to help out in Haiti before starting her work in Seattle. In May, she said: “Port-au-Prince (PAP) has turned into a tent city. You cannot imagine the number of people unless you actually see them. Even more stunning is the way they are living without water, sewage, and electricity. The stench and heat are both unbearable. Given these conditions, there have been thefts, assaults, rapes, and killings…
Registered Nurse, Diana Wall, RSCJ, cares for an earthquake survivor in Haiti.
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people tell their stories about domestic abuse and physical violence, the RSCJ help them recognize their place in the universe and have greater consciousness about what is possible.”
Newscom.com: AFP Photo / Nicholas Kamm
A girl suffering from cholera rests on her mother’s shoulder at the Charles Colimon hospital in Petite Riviere, on the Artibonite River, believed to be the source of Haiti’s cholera outbreak, 140km north of Port-au-Prince.
Children putting their heads together Diane Roche, RSCJ, has completed four years of organizational development work with other RSCJ in Haiti who founded, along with local Haitians, a non-traditional educational project for children and young people called Timoun Tèt Ansanm (Children Putting Their Heads Together). She says: “The children are with us for six years, and each year focuses on a specific skill from reading and writing to understanding their place in the community with self confidence.” Creative educational programs for over 300 children are offered in various towns in order to develop skills and attitudes that will foster success in life. People learning to cope with cholera – and grow food Suzanne Lasseigne, RSCJ, has spent several months in Haiti and, as Heart went to press, commented on the cholera outbreak: “So far, just over 250 people have died, many of whom were in St. Marc and Mirebalais, not far from us in Verrettes. We have been fine because we purify the water and have been careful to eat only cooked foods – and we quickly learned about the rehydration serum that one can make with water, sugar, and salt. Usually we see people swimming, bathing and doing laundry in the Artibonite River, but last week I saw no one.” She also observed that nutrition is critical: “There is, in Haiti, the technology for wifi and cell phones – but the people are hungry for food. I see lots of food in the markets and can only conclude that the climate is right for food production. So I plan to encourage children, by way of popsicles made with fresh fruit, to learn about tropical agriculture. I also hope to work with the parents of Timoun Tèt Ansanm, who are doing composting and distributing seedlings, and pass on what they know. This is certainly a place where one can spread the love of God to all.” Sending our love Suzanne Cooke, RSCJ, who visited Haiti in connection with Zanmi Lasante, the oldest and largest health care project in Haiti, said: “I am convinced that the work of rebuilding Haiti will be the work of our lifetime and will be successful to the degree that we work with the Haitian people.” N
“I am now living in Verrettes, a village three hours north of PAP. Most people live in homes of about 200 square feet with corrugated tin roofs and dirt floors. Of course all the normal pests – cockroaches, mice and rats – are fully present, but there is the added pleasure of living with tarantulas and scorpions… Each day, after prayer, I am responsible for getting the water for our community and managing it… we need to filter it and add bleach. We collect water for daily clothes washing and for use in the shower and toilets. One gets a huge appreciation for the gift of clean water out of a spigot! “After a peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast, I head to the local hospital to take care of people with multiple traumas such as botched home abortions, burns from oil and gas fires in the home, wounds from machete attacks and an incredible amount of domestic abuse… the list goes on… at times there is so much blood… The biggest challenge is supplies. Each day I have to ask the logistics guy to find, somehow, the basics: alcohol, Betadine, hydrogen peroxide, tape and bandages…” Greater consciousness in the midst of violence Judith Vollbrecht, RSCJ, who has spent over ten years in Haiti, described in May what she saw following the earthquake: “Officials put different colored markers on the houses in PAP depending on the condition; many were marked to be torn down. Getting supplies through customs was only one of the challenges. The Haitians are very private people and very afraid of what others can do to them; however, by helping
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Heart Lines In Mission for Life
A grace-filled journey
By Shirley Miller, RSCJ
Walking on the road together, we can
s we enter the fourth year of the Society’s In Mission for Life campaign, three elements claim our attention: stronger relationships among our many constituencies, quality health care for our elderly sisters, and a vision of hope for our spiritual and educational mission. On some days our journey together has been a gentle stroll; on others, it has been a bumpy ride. On all days, it has been a grace-filled journey. Walking on the road together, we can accomplish far more than in isolation. The Society’s collaboration with alumnae and alumni, the Associates, the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, and our colleagues in ministry has strengthened the mission of the Society in the U.S. as we all deepen our commitment to revealing the great love of the Heart of Jesus to our world. The AASH national board has supported the Society’s mission advancement office since its inception in 2004, and we have all benefited from the encouragement of AASH members and the outpouring of love across the country from alumnae and alumni, families, friends, colleagues, Associates and collaborators. Madeleine Ortman, executive director of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, recently wrote: “We are so grateful to the alumnae and alumni from around the country who continue to build strong relationships among all of our constituencies in order to provide the very best for all children of the Sacred Heart. Their support enables us to ensure that our students are given every
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Madeleine Ortman, executive director of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools.
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Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton, Board of Trustees, presented a $1,000,000 gift to the Society’s campaign in honor of all RSCJ who have served in the school. Front row, from left: Richard A. Dioli, Head of School, Mary Pat Ryan, RSCJ, Clare Pratt, RSCJ, Anne Holloway, Chair, Maryan Ackley, and Tim Haley. Back row, from left: John Kerrigan, Stephanie Lane, Mindy Rogers, Steve Rudolph, and Ed Cluss.
Reception in St. Charles. Dolly Johannesman, (right) member St. Louis/ St. Charles regional campaign committee, and Mary Dean Glosier, at Dolly’s home.
accomplish far more than in isolation.
opportunity to achieve their highest level of scholarship while learning to assume leadership roles as responsible, compassionate and contributing members of society. Gifts to the province campaign and appeal have helped us provide formation to mission programs for the adults working in Sacred Heart schools to ensure that the vision of St. Madeleine Sophie is the heart and soul of every Sacred Heart school. In the name of everyone, I thank you.” At present, we are concluding regional campaigns in San Francisco/Atherton, New York/New Jersey/Connecticut, and Boston/Rhode Island, and we are continuing regional campaigns in St. Louis/St. Charles, Omaha, New Orleans, and Chicago/Lake Forest. New campaigns are being introduced in San Diego/Arizona, Washington D.C./Maryland, and Houston. And we have reached seventy percent of our $40,000,000 goal in annual gifts, major gifts and pledges and realized bequests – a stunning tribute to each of you. As in the Emmaus story in the Gospel of Luke, we have recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread, in the hospitality of your homes and hearts, and while walking with you on the road. We thank you. And we ask you to continue to walk with us through the constancy of your prayers, your kind and gracious gifts, your volunteer support, and your words of welcome into homes and communities across the country. N
In Memoriam
Please see www.rscj.org for biographical information on RSCJ who have died.
May they live in the fullness of God’s love. Nancy Kane May 13, 2010 Cora McLaughlin May 22, 2010 Gabrielle Husson June 30, 2010 Eileen O’Gorman October 2, 2010 Margaret Hayes November 8, 2010
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Heart Lines
RSCJ at Los Angeles Religious Education Congress
rom Connecticut to California, from Massachusetts to Montana, 38,338 participants – the largest group ever – flocked to the 2010 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, March 19 to 21 in Anaheim, California. The Religious of the Sacred Heart were among them, offering information cards about the Society in Spanish and English, fliers about Duchesne House in New Orleans, book marks from the Associates and the Spiritual Ministry Center in San Diego – and red pens and red licorice! Linda Hayward, RSCJ, coordinated everything from booth registration and fees to handouts and volunteers. Other RSCJ who actively participated included Mary Pat White and Maureen Little, who helped set up the booth; Mary Schumacher, who took photos; Anne Wente and Sis Flynn, who drove up from San Diego to help on Saturday, the busiest day; and Maureen Chicoine, who brought posters and fliers. Regina Shin and a campus ministry associate were on hand to dismantle the booth after four days of outreach to a diverse and energetic group of students, catechists, parents, youth ministers, and clerics. N
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Left: Mary Kreuer, University of San Diego campus ministry associate, and Regina Shin, RSCJ, at the Society of the Sacred Heart booth.
AMO, AMAS, AMASC!
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Seated from left: Tata and Ed Young, Deborah Dunham Standing: Brenda Curley, AASH President Beth Speck, and Larry Dunham
Editor’s note: Special thanks to Patricia Boer of San Diego for reporting this story.
rammatically speaking, AMASC does not mean “he, she or it loves” … but then again, the whole esprit of the worldwide Sacred Heart alumnae and alumni association – the Association Mondiale des Anciens et Anciennes du Sacré-Cœur (AMASC) – is built on love and friendship. The fourteenth annual AMASC Congress took place this year in Malta, April 6 to 9, 2010, and the theme was Fight Poverty: Share – Care – Love. Over 300 alumnae/i and religious, representing thirty-seven countries, learned that there are many definitions of poverty beyond the monetary approach. For example, poverty can be defined as social exclusion from such things as clean water, flushing toilets, shoes, housing and food. And a judge from Ireland spoke of a new category of poverty defined as “the new poor,” i.e., the formerly employed who appear in court for issues related to financial debt, relationship/marital problems, and mental health/addiction problems. Hermine van Asten-Wennekers, president of AMASC, noted that, as a worldwide organization, AMASC can be a strong voice against injustice and recommended collaborating with young alumnae/i and reaching out with an international exchange of love and friendship. N
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Into the light
The story of a special stained glass window
Once upon a time… early in the 1920’s actually… a chaplain
on a U.S. Army base, whose mother had a devotion to St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, decided to commission a stained glass window from an artist in Germany…
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Fast forward to the 1980s. A member of the San Antonio Chapter Alumnae of the Sacred Heart, who met on the first Friday of every month and, with real esprit de cœur, had started a scholarship fund for Sacred Heart students, visited the home of a retired Army colonel. There she saw the most beautiful stained glass window of Sophie! The colonel explained that he had seen the window in the St. Madeleine Sophie chapel at Fort Sam Houston (dedicated in 1928) just before the wrecking ball arrived (in the early 1970s), and that he thought it beautiful and didn’t want to see it destroyed. After negotiating with several people, the colonel rescued the window, had a new frame made for it, and installed it in an alcove of his home. When the San Antonio alumnae asked if he might donate the window to their chapter, he said he wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet because of family health expenses – so they decided to offer him the scholarship funds they had accumulated (and no doubt said a few prayers to Sophie!) Although the amount they offered was lower than the appraisal, Colonel Keith DuBois agreed to sell the St. Madeleine Sophie window to the group, who presented it to Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, Houston, as a 25th anniversary gift in 1985. Soon thereafter, the chapel on the Duchesne campus – along with the guest cottage, playground and east parking lot – was demolished to make way for a city street, so the window was set up on the enclosed sun porch in the White House community. Then, in 1997, a new chapel was completed and the window found its home. Now, in the distinctive octagonal chapel that greets visitors to the campus, the window collects incoming light and spreads it to all those who enter the sacred space. Commenting on the return of St. Madeleine Sophie’s châsse to Paris and the return of the window to a Sacred Heart school chapel, Duchesne archivist Adele Caire, RSCJ, said that St. Madeleine Sophie has a way of returning to wherever she needs to be… N
Other stained glass around the province…
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1) At the Philippine Shrine in St. Charles, a reproduction of one of the windows in Mound City, Kansas, near where Mother Duchesne worked among the Indians. This piece was hung at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome the morning of her canonization, July 3, 1988. 2) At Woodlands Academy, a window once part of Barat College. An accompanying plaque reads: “For the sake of one child, I would have founded the Society of the Sacred Heart.” 3) This historic window in the Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart chapel was designed by Kathleen Quigly in 1927. Centered above St. Madeleine Sophie is a sign of the Sacred Heart. 4) At Bloomfield Hills, the distinctive rose window that serves as the school logo.
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Teamwork at work. A meeting of healthcare professionals at Saint Louis University Hospital; from left: Wendy Bruner; Mitch Semar; Joyce Williams, OP; Sheila Hammond, RSCJ; Kathy Herron; Jim Goeke, SJ; Garrett O’Brien, and Mary Beth Hartenstein.
Connecting
with each other:
A ministry of teamwork, healthcare, and education
WHAT IS MOST CRITICAL to the work of Sheila Hammond, RSCJ, BCC (Board Certified Chaplain), and the team of healthcare professionals she manages is the human element of mutuality. As director of the Pastoral Care department at Saint Louis University (SLU) Hospital and a certified Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisor, Sister Hammond works with both a pastoral care staff serving the spiritual needs of the hospital and an educational program serving the educational needs of pastors and chaplains in the community. And yes, life and death issues are often part of what she does. But pastoral care goes beyond “holding the hands” of people who are dying. Chaplains and pastoral caregivers are professionals who are trained to guide discussions of painful subjects and help people explore the difficult questions arising in the context of loss and crisis. Sister Hammond reports that these questions address issues such as: How can the dignity of this patient be preserved? What treatments are beneficial and necessary – and which are burdensome? Who is making decisions for patients if they are unable to decide for themselves? “And we also work with the nurses and other staff,” she says, “about such sensitive subjects with respect to a particular patient or family.”
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Left: Cristina Stevens leads a Clinical Pastoral Education seminar. Right: Sister Hammond at prayer in the Desloge Chapel at Saint Louis University Hospital.
“There is a profound power in the educational process… a spiritual power that brings together diverse people, different religious traditions, and various economic backgrounds to promote compassion, respect, and the building of authentic communities. CPE connects us with one another…” — Rev. Ute Schmidt, CPE supervisor, Burlington, Vermont In addition to encompassing a broad range of lifeand-death issues and people skills, the discipline of pastoral care contains a large educational component. Pastoral caregivers need to reflect continually on their own responses to critical situations in order to offer the most authentic and knowledgeable care.
A way to integrate her faith
Sister Hammond was teaching at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Chicago, her hometown, when she first heard of Clinical Pastoral Education. At the time, she was trying to better integrate her faith and her life – her beliefs and her actions – and CPE seemed like something that would foster that process. “I thought this particular mode of education offered a way to honor what we RSCJ call the ‘fourth vow’ that is, the promise to educate,” she said. “CPE provides essential support and
Left: Joy Nance-Johnson, hospital administrative assistant in the pathology laboratory and director of the hospital choir. Right: Oncology chaplain Rob Hartmann.
information for caregivers who are there for people when some of life’s most critical decisions must be made.” And Sister Hammond recognized that SLU Hospital would uphold the values dear to her when she observed the hospital’s mission statement: To the glory of God and the health of his people. “I try to keep that mission in the forefront of my consciousness as it ties in beautifully with the Society’s charism to discover and make known the love of God,” she says. Because SLU Hospital is an academic medical center – a “teaching hospital” – offering CPE is a natural fit. Seminarians, theology students, ministers, and other pastoral caregivers come to learn in an experiential program that combines service and education. They are given opportunities to reflect on their own ministry styles in addition to pastoral encounters in the context
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of group learning. CPE students learn from “the living human documents” of real people in times of suffering and stress.
Clinical Pastoral Education at SLU
CPE director Cristina Stevens, MDiv, BCC, is responsible for educating people going into parish ministry and institutional chaplaincy. She points out the value of an ecumenical group setting, in which students are exposed to different faiths and in which they are expected to learn, work, and pray together. In such settings, they learn ways to observe themselves and become attuned to their own reactions in challenging and sensitive situations. Sister Hammond agrees. “People minister best when they are aware of their own motivations and blockages, when they realize that they too are in crisis,” she said. “For example, a woman whose husband had been in an auto accident was in the midst of making difficult decisions about his treatment. I introduced her to the chaplain in the unit where her husband was so that she might have someone to help her explore her beliefs as she tried to make those decisions. Later, when the chaplain reflected on their encounter and shared with me his responses, he said that, as he listened to the woman’s concerns, he was aware of the common humanity we all share and how we all need to come from our hearts when we reach out to another human.” Joy Nance-Johnson, a hospital administrative assistant in the pathology laboratory and director of the hospital choir, says Sister Hammond’s department speaks volumes about the mission of St. Louis University Hospital. “Physiologically speaking, the heart keeps the blood flowing through our bodies and keeps us functioning properly,” said Ms. Nance-Johnson, “and our Pastoral Care department provides the same life-giving flow of heart energy to our patients, to their families, and to all the other hospital employees as well.” N
Training for relationships, not paperwork…
Even the administrative aspects of the chaplain’s work – the paperwork, the electronic recording, the institutional reviews, and various committees, – are related to the hospital mission of “offering quality innovative care” through healing, teaching, and research. Teamwork makes it do-able. Sister Hammond says the hospital staff at SLU has worked hard to integrate chaplains into the work of the medical team. “I believe that this is the most integrated pastoral care available in the area,” she said, “and that the chapel of Christ the Crucified King is a good place to pray.” “In my position, I serve as the overall manager of chaplains who each work with specific departments such as cardiology, neurology, oncology, behavioral medicine, transplant surgery, and so on,” she said. “Building relationships and maintaining relationships are key to excellent patient care. The chaplains work as part of an interdisciplinary team on all these services, and they know teamwork is essential.” All of the chaplains would agree with Reverend Rob Hartmann, oncology chaplain, who believes that patients truly appreciate that someone steps into their lives and is willing to walk with them through their struggles. “We accept people just where they are, regardless of their financial, educational or religious background,” he says, “and the most awesome experience I have as a chaplain is being allowed into another person’s life.”
The Saint Louis University Hospitals mission statement is lived – as well as displayed in the lobby.
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Coming full circle:
Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Bryn Mawr
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ountry Day School of the Sacred Heart (CDSSH) has a solid, trustworthy feel about it. The campus, located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, is distinguished by brick and stone buildings, mature shade trees, welltended gardens, and many iconic and familiar friends – statues of Sophie and Philippine, representations of Mater, and visual reminders of the mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
Yet admissions director and alumna Laurie Nowlan said: “It is a miracle we are in existence here; the school could have closed three different times.” She recalled that when the RSCJ decided to close Overbrook in 1968, a group of parents, students, teachers, and alumnae joined together to keep the school open. Then two years later, the property itself was sold – and the whole school held an all night sleepover with a novena to the Sacred Heart. The Jewish Foundation,
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Sister Matthew Anita MacDonald, SSJ, celebrating her feast day with students at CDSSH.
which had purchased the property, allowed CDSSH to rent space for a dollar a year and the upkeep of the buildings until, in 1978, the school was able to move to Bryn Mawr. Yet a third critical moment occurred in 1991 when there was no head of school for six months. After a comprehensive search and more prayers, Sister Matthew Anita MacDonald, SSJ, PhD, a college president who had served as vice-chair of the Pennsylvania Women’s Commission and on the Judicial Conduct Board, was hired.
Touching hearts and consciences
Sister Matthew Anita attributes the stability and successful spirit of CDSSH to the Sacred Heart Goals and Criteria as lived wholeheartedly by students, teachers, and parents through the years. “Sacred Heart values have been handed down person-toperson,” she said. “The RSCJ who served at Overbrook shaped the alumnae and students so strongly by living their charism that the whole idea of community service and educating women to leadership was clearly evident. St. Madeleine Sophie said: What is the good of teaching various subjects…if at the same time we cannot teach children the words of life – and touch their hearts and their consciences? Now, we still strive to touch consciences, to have students and teachers say: I get it; it’s my responsibility – and we can see that St. Madeleine Sophie’s vision of education as an act of justice is alive and well.” Sister Matthew Anita points to an array of community service activities engaged in by CDSSH students and says
that seeing the idea of service mature -- from an activity for “others” to a heartfelt response to brothers and sisters in need to a lifetime commitment to change systems that perpetuate poverty and injustice – provides a solid rationale for the teaching and learning at Sacred Heart schools. Enrollment at CDSSH has doubled since Sister Matthew Anita took office eighteen years ago, and academically talented students are continually sought. Small classes are maintained in the lower and middle schools to provide a nurturing environment; and the upper school offers an outstanding Integrated Humanities Program, independent study, and domestic and international exchange programs, plus ten varsity sports: field hockey, tennis, golf, cross country, basketball, volleyball, crew, softball, lacrosse and track.
Global outlook characterizes CDSSH
Kathleen Gallagher, executive director of institutional advancement, remarked that St. Madeleine Sophie was a “global” visionary long before anyone knew what the word meant and she added: “I can’t think of a better investment than in the education of the people who are going to lead us in the future.” In 1999, CDSSH was admitted to full membership in the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, reuniting it with its roots and bringing the educational mission full circle.
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Alumnae who believed
Supportive alumnae have been a key component in the continuity of CDSSH. Alumnae director Betty Buckland said: “We are here because we have wonderful parents who are alums and who believed in Sacred Heart education… and the school is strong because we’re Sacred Heart women.” Her co-worker, Mimi Miner, credited the stability of CDSSH to “lots and lots of prayers to St. Madeleine Sophie” and the fact that “so many people simply want to keep the school going.” In her comments as recipient of the 2009 Distinguished Alumna Award at CDSSH, Joan Meaney Quinn, who has a daughter who serves as a trustee, a granddaughter who is a junior, and who herself helped with the transition from Overbrook to Bryn Mawr, posed the question: “What do we see in Sacred Heart education that drives us to make a miracle?” Her answer sums up the story of Bryn Mawr: “For me, Sacred Heart was a God-centered education… We were taught to think, to reason, and given the tools to do it well. We were taught to value truth and to respect others. We were taught to be responsible for our own actions, and we learned to share with others the gifts God had given us…We learned by the example of the religious. We were truly educated to a ‘personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.’ I am especially grateful to Sister Matthew Anita, not only for her leadership, but for making our dream for Bryn Mawr to become part of the Sacred Heart Network a reality. That brings us full circle.” N
Middle School Prize Day at CDSSH. From left: Charlotte Rice, Faith Wilcox, Maria Lefchak, and Gretchen Seifried.
Nurturing the Goals and Criteria
The basic goals of Sacred Heart education at Bryn Mawr have remained the same for over 140 years: to produce self-confident women, to provide a challenging intellectual education, to develop a love of God, and to create a desire to help others. Sharon Mitsler, head of upper school, Mission Effectiveness Sacred Heart coordinator, and chair of the Sacred Heart Commission on Goals committee at CDSSH, says almost all the alumnae are doing service in their lives and that the instant bond of recognition among Sacred Heart students is palpable. “The best part is that students come in as girls and leave as confident, capable young women,” she said.
It’s like home to us
Among seven “lifers” in the current senior class, Tori Wilbraham, now in her fifteenth year at CDSSH, and Courtney DiBianca, in her twelfth, are enthusiastic about the relationships and high level of involvement that exist among students and parents and the school. For example, Tori and her mother have each served on one of the school’s SHCOG committees. Tori commented on the genuine sense of love throughout the school and the deep respect, without fear, students have for the teachers. “The classroom atmosphere is very open,” she said. “We are not afraid to be wrong, and there’s definitely a sense of confidence. The relationships among older and younger students are especially nice, and I would love to teach here!” And Courtney shared her insights that: “As you get older, you grow closer with the people in your class” and “Even our parents are good friends.” About CDSSH, both seniors declared: “We’ve seen it grow… it’s like home to us.”
Stained glass windows at CDSSH, originally from Overbrook, were spared when a fire started in the art room near the chapel a few years ago. The fire stopped at the windows – and fire officials said they believed the thickness of the stained glass kept the blaze from spreading to the rest of the building.
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Essay
A fourth vow: Reflections on a life in higher education
By Mary Blish, RSCJ
y entry into the apostolate of higher education was amazingly direct, pre-Vatican II style. Fifty-two years ago, before I left for probation in Rome, the superior vicar simply told me where to go and what to study upon my return, and that was that. Until then, I had taught third academic, enjoyed working with high school students, and felt I was learning to do it better; I had no yearning to pursue another graduate degree. But I did like to study and appreciated the world of formal education, so the prospect of graduate work fit well with a phrase I had come across in high school. The words spoke to me then and still do: the love of God and the love of learning. The first part of that phrase had come alive when I was a student at Maryville, where it was clear that prayer was important to the nuns – and that fact also spoke to me. Then the perpetual vows I took as a Religious of the Sacred Heart further reinforced and enlivened the meaning of those words.
M
From 1982 Profession of Perpetual Vows: I …wishing to follow Jesus Christ more closely promise to Almighty God obedience, poverty and chastity and according to obedience to dedicate myself to the education of youth in the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus forever… After completing a PhD and spending many years in administration, I had the opportunity to teach full-time, with the added benefit of life in Japan, a totally different culture.
This experience enabled me to look at the world, especially our American world, from a vastly different perspective and also provided a different approach to Bible study. The Japanese are noted for their interest in the Bible; and at first my involvement with Bible study was informal, working with adult study groups. Then I was asked to teach the Bible as literature, and, since returning to the U.S., I have used this approach. Our “fourth vow” to educate has always been especially meaningful to me, and I was surprised and disappointed that so little was made of it during probation. But I have been very encouraged in these recent decades by the flourishing of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools and its ability to reach so many at all age levels with the vision of St. Madeleine Sophie. Now I see the recent meetings of RSCJ in higher education as another great step forward. Although I am no longer active in institutions of higher education, the research skills learned along the way enable me to contribute to various Society projects. And each year, as we all renew our vows, I am reminded of what lies at the heart of all that Religious of the Sacred Heart do in the world. N
Mary Blish, RSCJ, PhD, taught American literature for nineteen years at the University of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo. She currently serves as moderator of the Children of Mary sodality and as a member of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) team in Holy Name Parish, both in New Orleans; works on research projects for the Society of the Sacred Heart; and generally does “this and that.”
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Spirituality
God, golf, nature: An early introduction to prayer
By Virginia Dennehy, RSCJ
hen I was about eleven and the weather was nice, I begged my Mom to take me after school to the local golf course, where I played out as far away as I could from anyone else. I loved to play golf, but what I really loved was watching the sunset. Looking back now, I realize God used the beauty of creation to draw me to himself, to teach me how to pray. When I was seventeen, I reached the finals in the Chicago District Golf Championship in Techny, Illinois. After the normal thirty-six holes, my opponent and I were tied; it was sunset and the clock began to chime at the nearby Society of the Divine Word mission. Suddenly, I found myself in a strange state: feeling completely at one with every single person in the rather large gallery of onlookers and with my opponent too – one with the whole universe. I continued to play and, at the 40th hole, won the championship. However, it was that experience of UnityOneness-Wholeness that stayed with me. I did not understand what had happened but began to realize there was something much larger that I was meant to do in the world besides play golf… Three years later, after intense searching for that larger something, I entered the Society of the Sacred Heart. There, I immersed myself in the teachings of Madeleine Sophie Barat, Rose Philippine Duchesne and Janet Erskine Stuart. In 1898, Mother Stuart had talked about the Society’s educational mission to “raise children to God, to teach them to reach their last end. Unless we do this, we are simply giving
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instruction.” She also spoke of finding God – or God finding her – while she was riding horseback in the open spaces of England and South America; in those readings I felt the same sense of oneness I had experienced back on the golf course. As a young professed, I went to the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Chicago to serve as dean of students (surveillante general in those days), where I taught sophomores and juniors (second and third academics then) English, history, religion, and sports. And I began to take an interest in psychology. In 1982, after serving on the RSCJ provincial team in Chicago, opening and teaching at a Life Career Center at Barat College in Lake Forest, and teaching with Matthew Fox in his inspired Creation Centered Spirituality program at Mundelein College in Chicago, I was ready for a sabbatical year! A friend synchronistically sent me an ad for the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) in Menlo Park, California, where Jungian analyst June Singer, the director of the counseling center, became my mentor. I received a PhD in Transpersonal Psychology, and for the past twenty-five years have taught at ITP and worked as a psychotherapist and spiritual guide with individuals, couples, and families. What is Transpersonal Psychology? And how does it relate to that day on the golf course – and to life as a Religious of the Sacred Heart? The term “transpersonal” appeared in the1950’s when philosophers and psychologists were looking for a word that would incorporate, so to speak, the spiritual dimension of human life into the existing knowledge. Thus the term transpersonal, meaning that which transcends personal, ego-focused states of being, came into use. Transpersonal is the word I would use now to describe my transcendent experience that day on the golf course.
When the word “transpersonal” was combined with psychological concepts of self and soul, the term Transpersonal Psychology was born. Transpersonal psychologists believe that at the core of all humans is something divine that allows individuals to transcend ego boundaries, something that provides a larger context and expanded direction to their lives. Long before the term Transpersonal Psychology was born, Mother Stuart was conscious of such transcendent reality: “Education is a complete whole, an organism,” she said. “That given by the Society is such. Our method of teaching is complete in itself: its final cause is to give God souls… to make them love, we must take their whole being… not be satisfied with the work of the mind alone, nor think exclusively of the will, but of the whole.” Mother Stuart’s wise words have inspired the Society of the Sacred Heart for many years but perhaps none are so well-remembered – and so able to evoke a sense of the transpersonal – as those from the beloved hymn: Spirit seeking light and beauty, Heart that longeth for thy rest, Soul that asketh understanding, Only thus can ye be blest. N
Virginia Dennehy, RSCJ, PhD, teaches at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and serves as spiritual guide and counselor to individuals, couples and families in the Atherton/Menlo Park area of California. And she occasionally gets in a round of golf.
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The Book Page
Good words
written by members of the Sacred Heart family
God in the Moment: Making Every Day a Prayer by Kathy Coffey (City House ’65 and Maryville ’69) Are you too busy to pray – yet feel a nagging need for prayer? Many people long for a spiritual center that gives meaning and depth to even the craziest days. God in the Moment explores how prayer can occur in ordinary ways and commonplace locations – in the midst of chaos, commotion, and clutter! Based on St. Augustine’s belief that “there is nothing that cannot become a sacramental encounter,” the book looks at ways to move beyond our stereotypes of prayer.
Elijah Uncloaked: A Man for All Ages: Yesterday, Today and Always by Yvonne Reynolds (Duchesne College for three years, and San Francisco College for Women ’52 and ’59) Treasures in scripture abound. It takes very little digging to unearth some real jewels in both the Old and New Testaments. Elijah, one of those unpolished jewels, had a great deal to tell us about life. A prophet he was – and a persevering one too – but it wasn’t always easy for him, and he seemed happy to leave it all for the better life. Yet, even after his dramatic ride off into the blue, Elijah kept coming back like a song…
The Journal Keeper: A Memoir by Phyllis Theroux (Manhattanville ’61) Thirty years ago, essayist Phyllis Theroux began to keep a journal. It evolved from a crying rag into a daily “light box” she uses to illuminate her path. A natural storyteller, Theroux takes your arm companionably in hers as if she is just going for a stroll. But her stride is long and her eye sharp. The Journal Keeper swings easily among subjects that occupy most people who are mid-way through their lives: love, loneliness, children, growing old, keeping the creative fires burning and – in Theroux’s case – watching her remarkable mother prepare for death.
Who Occupies This House by Kathleen Hill (Manhattanville ’62) Who Occupies This House is the story of a house and the uncanny silences that fill it. An immigrant novel, it concerns the fate of an Irish-American family that inhabits a single house for almost a century. The narrator, struggling to address fears for her own children, remembers the journals she’d discovered in a chest of drawers as a girl and has jealously kept with her since. The story of the house in which these Irish immigrants come at last to call themselves American speaks to the larger history of the country itself.
Halmoni and the Picnic by Sook Nyul Choi, née Imelda S. Park (Manhattanville ’62) This lovely story about a child named Yunmi and her Korean grandmother, Halmoni, explores the difficulties of adjusting to life in New York City and provides an excellent starting place for discussions about cultures and generations. Yunmi worries that her classmates will make fun of Halmoni, who has offered to chaperone the class picnic in Central Park. Halmoni and the Picnic is on Reading is Fundmental’s list of the decade’s best multicultural read-alouds.
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Women of prayer
making God’s love visible in the heart of the world
U Become a member
Contact: Mary Pat White, RSCJ vocation@rscj.org
U Become an associate
Contact: Anne Byrne, RSCJ abyrne@rscj.org
U Support our mission financially
Contact: Shirley Miller, RSCJ smiller@rscj.org
Society of the Sacred Heart
U.S. Province
VOCATION MINISTRY:
Artwork by Regina Shin, RSCJ
Mary Pat White, RSCJ 1.888.844.7725 • vocation@rscj.org http://vocation.rscj.org/
Society of the Sacred Heart
U.S. Province 4120 Forest Park Avenue St. Louis, MO 63108
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A stained glass window from Kenwood depicts one of the beloved images of the Society. Around the province, other windows bring Sacred Heart traditions Into the light.
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Pastoral care education at Saint Louis University Hospital is all about listening and learning and Connecting with
each other.
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For Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Bryn Mawr, dedication to the Goals & Criteria and teamwork on many levels have been significant factors in a story of Coming full circle.